The new SEC Network, scheduled to launch on Thursday, is a good thing and a bad thing.

It’s good for Southeastern Conference sports junkies, but it’s bad for those of us who will miss veteran sports broadcaster Lyn Rollins’ tape-delayed broadcasts of LSU football games on Cox Sports Television, which he has been doing for about a decade with former LSU star Greg Bowser as an insightful analyst.

CST no longer has the rights to do such games since the SEC Network, through a multi-year distribution agreement between Suddenlink and all ESPN platforms, will have a monopoly on SEC programming, with the exception of football games televised by CBS.

“We’re certainly big fans of Lyn,” said Rod Mickler, CST’s regional vice president. “It doesn’t take me long at all in my travels across the state to hear people say they like Lyn’s work. Lyn on Cox Sports Television is not coming to an end, but it’s a new world for us.”

CST is still able to broadcast non-conference away games, except for football and men’s basketball, so there will be between 20-25 LSU events Cox will be able to televise, not to mention other sports events outside of the SEC that Cox will air, and “Lyn will be at the forefront of our opportunities as they come up,” says Mickler.

Rollins, who is celebrating his 40th anniversary with his wife, Debbie, this week, said he has presented some job proposals to the SEC Network.

The network would be wise to accept any of those proposals and run with it as one might do with a winning lottery ticket.

Yet, indications are the network is more interested — with some exceptions — in hiring younger employees with whom they can nurture long-term relationships. One notable exception is the hiring of 75-year-old Brent Musberger as its lead SEC announcer this football season. (Former Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer, 35, will be his sidekick as the lead analyst.)

So Rollins will be calling soccer and volleyball events for CST, for example, but many of us will miss him making those events sing because, frankly, we won’t be watching. He will be doing some women’s basketball, baseball, softball and gymnastics events, too.

This is a four-time Louisiana Sportscaster of the Year, an award selected by peers in broadcast and print journalism, and his experience includes more than 130 LSU football games, including SEC championship and bowl games. He is the induction ceremony voice of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

One of the new opportunities for CST is an hour-long game day show on Saturdays at 11 a.m. on the day of LSU football games. Victor Howell, a longtime anchor for CST, will host the show from a studio in New Orleans, and former LSU football stars Jacob Hester and Kevin Mawae and veteran sportscaster Gordy Rush will be on site giving commentary and pre-game analysis and color.

Even though he was not named to that team, Rollins showed no bitterness when asked about that. On the contrary, he was gracious towards CST and enthusiastic for those who will be doing the show.

“CST has always treated me professionally, and they have been loyal,” Rollins said. “I’m excited about seeing that show and expect to enjoy it. I really think Mawae and Hester will be good at that, and, of course, Gordy with his experience with the LSU Radio Network.”

As a broadcaster, Rollins, I think, is at his best doing baseball broadcasts. Thankfully, he’ll still be able to do some baseball games for CST. It may surprise you to learn that Rollins, a former play-by-play announcer for the minor league Alexandria Aces, has called more college baseball games — including the SEC and Sun Belt conferences — than any TV announcer in the country.

Rollins can come across in the same sentence as erudite and hilarious, and one of the great joys of listening to a Rollins baseball broadcast comes upon hearing that perfect crack of the bat. Fleetingly, there’s the anticipation, then the gratification of hearing him drive into a lower octave as he intones, “You can pucker up and kiss that baby goodbye!”

He’s not ready to kiss any of his broadcasting fans goodbye, and he’s going to continue to entertain and gratify those who watch and listen to his work. It’ll just be different in the fall, especially, not being able to hear the unique presentation he and Bowser offered for LSU football games.

Bob Tompkins is a senior sports reporter and columnist for The Town Talk. Connect with him on Twitter @Btom_TownTalk.